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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

I got the binding on my husband's quilt done just in time for his birthday. He was happy to receive the quilt and thought perhaps it might be for him. He wanted a smaller size quilt than the one I had already made him, and I was happy to oblige.

I decided to call this A Cup of Love because I snuck in a few coffee themed fabrics from the Bistro and Java line. I used some of the Java charm squares to make it unique for him.

The pattern came from Piecemeal Quilts. I could see myself trying this out in different colourways. Coffee is not my thing, but my dh definitely deserves a cup of love!

Monday, May 30, 2011

Well, Jane has gotten me going again. She was the one who started me on swaps, which led me to quilt alongs, which led me to bees. She finished her 9 patch quilt along done with Amanda Jean. It forced me to get mine out which I had started 2 years ago. I have spent a lot of time thinking about what to do with these blocks. Ironically, after seeing Jane's finish hers, I found Vicki who had been in my Bee Beautiful group show her second 9 patch quilt in the Blogger's Quilt Festival. She made hers with 48 squares which made a really nice lap size quilt. I decided I better take the hint and got mine out to look at again.

I really like it now, in the rainbow setting. I am going to add in some more yellow, orange and purple, and it will be sashed in the yellow. I hope to have the top done by the end of summer. Check out what others have made for Design Wall Monday.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Well, in the end I did not get any Friday Night Sewing done. I did however get a lot of long weekend sewing done. Monday was Victoria Day, a holiday here in Canada. Friday night ended up being used to clean up my quilting room and organize all of my projects. Saturday I spent playing with some half-square triangles for a Carpenter's Star quilt. I really admire the one that Ariane is making and I like the pattern from Mary. The half-square triangles are from a project that I changed my mind about, but they did not work with the Carpenter's Star either. On to Plan C for them. Sunday, I attached the binding to my Winter Wonderland quilt, now I need to hand stitch it to the back.

Monday, I worked on my UFO Challenge #9 - the Cherry Quilt. I really love it. It is suppose to be a small lap size quilt, but I feel like it is calling out to me to be bigger. I am thinking of turning it into a double sized quilt. I have been having lots of fun checking out the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day. Check it out, if you haven't already and check out other people posting for WIP Wednesday.

Friday, May 20, 2011

I feel like Wheel of Fortune when they have the Before and After puzzles. This is Fabric Friday and Friday Night Sew-In. I bought these fabrics a couple of weeks ago from an online store that was going to be closing. The dark browns in the background I intend to make a bag for myself and the some of the fabrics in the front I am using to make a baby quilt that hopefully I will have the top done tonight for the Friday Night Sew-In. See, how it all ties in together! For me, it is very helpful to take pictures of my fabric, as a way of maintaining some inventory control. I had been working on my UFO Challenge quilt for May. I kept thinking I needed to buy a backing fabric until I went through my blog and remembered that I had already bought something. Hope you will join me in sewing tonight!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

I am being fashionably late. With Blogger being down last week, I had hoped to get the binding done on a quilt to show you, but I am not quite there yet. Instead I have decided to show you a quilt I made a few years ago that represents the direction I want to move in.

This month is my last month for my Bee group. I have been swapping, quilting along and "Bee"ing constantly for 2 and 1/2 years now, and I am ready for a break. I have also been volunteering on the executive of my guild for the past 3 years. Due to changes in my life I will not be able to volunteer on the executive for next year. That left me at a crossroads of what I wanted to do next with my time and quilting. Remembering this quilt, made me thing of how much joy I have making baby and children's quilts. This is a pattern I made on my own for a friend's granddaughter. It was a lot of fun to make, but worrisome as well, because I wanted it to be perfect for her.I have decided that I would like to my some quilt tops for children that can be donated to my guild. Right now I make blocks for them, but I would love to be able to contribute some tops. For me, it is a win win situation. I get to use my stash, try out lots of quilting blocks I have wanted to make, and maybe even learn to machine quilt better. Hopefully too, I will get to design some of my own quilts.One of the things I love most about quilting is how much joy it gives back to you and to me this quilt is a reminder of that.

Please check out the other quilts in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival. There are so many talented quilters. I know that I am going to have a lot of "quilt eye candy" for weeks to come. Thank you to Amy for putting this all together.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

I think I have read most of the comments from There are things I don't say by Stitched in Color. It is all about being honest. After having read them, I feel much better about myself as a quilter. What I mean by that is there is such a huge spectrum of opinions of what people think about quilting, how can you/I be wrong in what we want to do. A lot of things that I have done were not things that people thought were okay. I am okay with that. I know my situation and I make time to quilt within the limitations that I have. I am doing what I love and sharing my love with others. I have done some thinking about what direction I want to take my quilting in, and I think I have found something that would make me very happy. I just have some research to do.

For the things I don't say : I participate in the Friday Night Sew-In, sometimes it becomes Friday afternoon sew-in or Saturday morning sew-in. It all depends how tired I am, and how much attention my children want which most of the time is a lot. There is my big confession!

Now for where I want to be:

I would like to be at this house. Reason? I was doing some searching for quilting items at a classifieds website and this house is "LOCATED ON A QUILT STREET". Who would not want to live on a quilt street? Seriously, I want to continue to be inspired by you, to read your posts, to be jealous of your creativity, to cheer on your successes and help you when you're down. Keep doing what you do, and continuing being yourselves, you are amazing! Your honesty will shine through!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

I finally got caught up on my Sew Modern Bee Blocks. Waking up in the middle of the night from a bad dream helps with this. The great thing about bees is that you get to try blocks you would not normally make. The bad part is, I'm not sure if I do the blocks proper justice not having done them before. Both this bee and my Bee Beautiful group have increased my repertoire of blocks to make ; the list keeps getting longer. May is the last month for this bee and then I am going to take a break from Beeing. I would like to start figuring out what quilts I want to make for my guild's quilt show next year. I also have a few quilts that need to be bound.

Monday, May 9, 2011

I made a purse this year for my Mom for Mother's Day. It is a free pattern that can be found at the Better Home and Gardens website designed by Monica Solorio-Snow of Happy Zombie. It is has six outer pockets, hence the name. It came together very quickly and I am pleased with out it turned out. Now I would love to make one for myself.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Here is my completed April UFO top. These blocks came from the Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt Along that I did last year. The UFO challenge was instrumental in getting this top done. I enjoyed making all of the blocks but when I saw them all together I did not like it all. I put it away for the fall while I tried to think of different layouts. In the end, I bought some new sashing fabric for it and added the stars. Now, I really love it. It will be going into my living room.